Apple Watch SE (2nd generation)

The Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) cost $249 and was Apple’s cheapest watch for three years. It used the same S8 chip as the Series 8 and the Ultra that launched beside it, which made it about 20 per cent quicker than the SE it replaced.

Crash Detection was introduced on this generation. The watch could recognise a serious car accident and call the emergency services by itself if the wearer did not respond, a feature it shared with the Series 8 and the iPhone 14.

The back of the case was rebuilt in a nylon composite colour matched to the watch, which brought the weight down. The case itself was unchanged, still aluminium in 40mm and 44mm, in midnight, starlight and silver.

What it went without was the point of it. There was no always-on display, no electrocardiogram, no blood oxygen reading and none of the temperature sensing the Apple Watch SE (2nd generation) could have inherited from the Series 8. International roaming and the redesigned Compass app did arrive, the latter through watchOS 9.

It was announced on 7 September 2022 at the ‘Far Out’ event. Orders opened the same day, while it was released to shops on 16 September, priced from $249 for the GPS model and $299 with cellular.

Read about the Apple Watch SE 3 that followed.